The last time that Milla Jovovich took on a piece of classical literature the result was Paul W.S. Anderson's The Three Musketeers, a film that landed on many "Worst Film of the Year" lists when it came out in 2011. We're sincerely hoping that her next effort goes better. It's been announced that the actress has joined the cast of Cymbeline, the upcoming modernized adaptation of Shakespeare's play of the same name. She joins a cast that already includes both Ethan Hawke and Ed Harris, and Penn Badgley.

The original play told the story of Imogen, a princess whose father doesn't approve of the man she has chosen to love. When the lover is banished and sent to fight in a war, Imogen dresses as a boy and leaves to go find him. The new film version, however, is being changed by writer/director Michael Almereyda and the story has been changed to modern times and a war between dirty cops and a drug dealing biker gang. The press release announcing Jovovich's casting says that the project is "in the vein of Sons of Anarchy and in the style of Romeo + Juliet" (presumably a reference to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film). The actress is said to be playing the Queen in the movie, but there are no details available about how the character will be changed to fit into the changed setting and plot.

This will be Jovovich's first time working with Almereyda, but the same can not be said for Hawke. The filmmaker and the actor previously teamed up for another Shakespeare adaptation, namely the tepidly-received Hamlet from 2000. You can watch the trailer below to get an idea of what we can expect to see from Cymbeline.

Jovovich doesn't make nearly as many movies as she used to, but has a fairly action-packed upcoming schedule. Last appearing on the big screen in 2012's Resident Evil: Retribution, she will once again be slipping into Alice's skin to star in the sixth installment of the Resident Evil franchise. It has also been said that she will be bringing a bit of girl power to The Expendables 3 - which has been all over the news recently. Production on both of those blockbuster projects is set to begin before the end of 2013, but it would appear that Cymbeline is coming first. Cameras are set to start rolling on the Shakespeare adaptation on August 19th in New York City. It would appear that the film does not have a release date yet, but one can assume that they will be targeting the film for release some time next year.